Northland Group INC attempting to collect $4k more than balance - Advice?

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

Today I received a request for settlement to a Collection Agency by the name of Northland Group Inc. in Minneapolis, MN. The letter states that they were "assigned" so I am sure it is safe to assume that they do not own the debt but are acting on behalf of the OC (Carmax).

I have been monitoring my credit reports closely and all three show a balance with Carmax at $7,929.00 with a DOFD of 10/2013, balance is reported as such as recent as 9/15 in the form of a CO. Also if it helps, I am located in Texas and the original auto loan was taken in Texas as well.

The letter states that the past due account balance is $11,243.96 and that the settlement offer is $5,734.44. 

I wanted to check what possible avenues I should be going down with this before writing a DV or contacting the CO/CA.

Any help is appreciated.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello all,

Today I received a request for settlement to a Collection Agency by the name of Northland Group Inc. in Minneapolis, MN. The letter states that they were "assigned" so I am sure it is safe to assume that they do not own the debt but are acting on behalf of the OC (Carmax).

I have been monitoring my credit reports closely and all three show a balance with Carmax at $7,929.00 with a DOFD of 10/2013, balance is reported as such as recent as 9/15 in the form of a CO. Also if it helps, I am located in Texas and the original auto loan was taken in Texas as well.

The letter states that the past due account balance is $11,243.96 and that the settlement offer is $5,734.44. 

I wanted to check what possible avenues I should be going down with this before writing a DV or contacting the CO/CA.

Any help is appreciated.

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If it was a standard legal dunning notice it should say whether they are collecting on behalf of another party, and if so it must state who they are collecting for. I would tread lightly - DV'ing large debts may bring out the lawyers.

[Anonymous]

Looking back over it now - 

They state the Creditor Correctly, the original account number and that my account has been assigned to them for collection. 

What is completely wrong is the amount owed. Unless carmax has not been reporting accrued interest and fees on my credit report for the last two years, I don't see how they could have jumped from $7900 to $11,243 in the span of two months.

[RobertEG]

What is stiplulated in your original contract with the OC regarding the continued accrual of interest on delinquent accounts?

A debt collector can attempt to collect interest if it is authorized in the contract that created the debt.  FDCPA 808(1).

Since you are a resident of TX, you  can submit a request for validation under the TX Finance Code, which requires response within 30 days, and if validation is not provided in that repsonse, deletion of their reported collection until such time as validation is provided.

Be sure to include a request for itemization of the asserted debt in any such request.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure as I was a co-signer for this account. Would they be able to report the same balance for two years and then all of the sudden hit me with interest and fees when they hired the CA to collect?

Also, Should I be requesting validation from the OC or the CA?

[RobertEG]

You can always contact the OC and ask for informal information regarding the account.

However, formal requests for debt validation only apply to debt collectors, as they are a debt collection practices matter under FDCPA 809(b).